With what oolong better to start?

Currently i'm drinking a lot of Japanese green teas, but looking for some additional evening teas and just simply started to get curious. I do enjoy smoky and spicy taste of houjicha, roasted green tea.

Can anyone suggest some choices for first meeting with oolong? I would like some good quality one, got already used to smooth and rich flavor of first flush green teas

Xell wrote:Currently i'm drinking a lot of Japanese green teas, but looking for some additional evening teas and just simply started to get curious. I do enjoy smoky and spicy taste of houjicha, roasted green tea.

Can anyone suggest some choices for first meeting with oolong? I would like some good quality one, got already used to smooth and rich flavor of first flush green teas

Tie Guan Yin (TGY). I would get both a greener one and what they call traditional, a roasted one. Both are full of flavor and aroma. This is one tea I find hard to imagine someone not liking. Then I would find a good Taiwanese high mountain oolong like Da Yu Ling or Shan li Xing, and a good Dong Ding.Finally, look for a Shui Xian Wuyi tea that is at least a few years old. A good one is a very memorable experience.

Tead Off gave you good advices I think. A good roasted TGY is easy to brew and gives wonderful results. It is a good way to explore the roasted side of wulong, along with yancha. Traditional Dong Ding is great too to explore oxidised teas. On the green side, Da Yu Ling or Li Shan.

My advice : don't bother with low quality teas. If it is going to be a first encounter, just treat yourself with some nice leaves.

My suppliers are Teamasters and Hojo. The former has a great roasted TGY ang gao shan cha in general (and hong shui oolong which are worth trying), the latter the best dong ding I have ever tasted and some breathtaking gao shan, among other things. No green TGY in their selections though.